TOP STORIES: 'With Rs 10 lakh we began a prepared to-cook brand, whose turnover contacted Rs 40 lakh in the subsequent year

In early 2020, close friends Prachi Patil, 30, and Aditya Patil, 29, quit their jobs on the same day - 13 March - after discussing their future together and later that year joined hands in matrimony. As the world was reeling under the impact of the Covid pandemic, the newlyweds explored various business ideas and eventually formed a company, Suzu Agro Private Limited (Food for Future), and launched Aaj Pakao, a ready-to-cook, and ready-to-eat, food products brand in November 2020.

The first year was challenging as we spent a lot of time and money building the products and getting necessary licenses and approvals from different agencies such as FSSAI, ISO, and USFDA. During that period, I repeatedly contemplated winding it up and returning to the US to take up a good job and lead a comfortable life. However, Aditya asked me to be patient and slog it out for three years.

However, as life took me from one destination to another, the plans of becoming an astronaut were replaced by a vision of redefining the approach to cooking that I share with my husband, Aditya PatilFrom learning engineering to doing an MBA from Texas State University and building a successful tech-driven ready-to-cook food venture with my husband, a textile engineer who has an MBA from IIM, Rohtak, my life is at a fascinating phase.

Somewhere along the path, I met Aditya Patil, who had also moved to Dhule to study, and we became best friends. My parents were very understanding, and since Dhule is a small town, my gang of 4-5 friends used to spend time at my place, where my mother would cook food for us. I was a voracious reader and read many books on astronomy, space, and other such subjects as I wanted to become an aeronautical engineer and join NASA as an astronaut.

In my final year of college, I joined a reputed automobile firm for my internship, and that’s when I realized that there was no space for a girl in this industry in India. I remained close friends with Aditya even after moving to Pune, and later we realized that we had a bond stronger than friendship. I got admission in Industrial Engineering at Texas State University and later did an MBA there.

After finishing my studies in the US, I joined Schaeffer, a leading automotive company, and had three wonderful years there. That one year in Germany was one of the best times of my life. Then in early 2020, Aditya and I discussed our future together. We quit our jobs on the same day, ‘13th March 2020’, and later that year got married, by which time the pandemic had hit the world.

We explored various business ideas until, one day, I asked Aditya a simple question about India's lack of ready-to-cook canned food options. I repeatedly contemplated winding it up and returning to the US to take up a good job and lead a comfortable life. However, Aditya asked me to be patient and slog it out for three years.

During that stage, some of my friends from Germany had come to India, and one day they spotted our products in a supermarket. In those days, we used to work crazy, like 18 hours at the manufacturing plants, and later crash at my brother’s place. Perseverance paid off, and today, Aaj Pakao is manufacturing 15-20 tonnes of products each month and exporting to clients in India, the US, the UK, UAE, and some African countries.